Demand for hydrogen is increasing significantly, and is expected to increase further due to EPA regulations requiring deep desulfurization of petroleum based fuels in refineries, as well as its potential use in fuel cells in automotive and power generation applications. Traditional methods for hydrogen production include reforming or partial oxidation of methane to produce synthesis gas, followed by the water-gas-shi ft reaction to convert CO to CO2 Generally, still further purification is necessary because the hydrogen product (following water-gas-shift reaction) contains sufficient CO to poison the catalysts used in PEM electrochemical fuel cells. Thus, conventional means for hydrogen production require a multi-step, costly process.
Non-oxidative catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons such as methane is a known alternate method of hydrogen production. However, it is known that solid carbon deposits produced during conventional methods of catalytic decomposition of gas phase methane may foul reactors, catalysts, and gas handling systems. Consequently, there is a need in the art for methods and catalysts for non-oxidative catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons which result in a substantially pure hydrogen product without production of carbon deposits (“coke”), which shorten useful reactor and catalyst performance lifetimes. There is further a need in the art for such a method and catalysts for use therewith which allows one-step production of a pure hydrogen product.